Beschreibung

Choosing a national hero is a delicate endeavor, as heroes define the nation they represent, providing the means to decipher the imaginary of a given culture. Arthur Pendragon and Don Quijote de la Mancha have been marketed as representatives of the British and the Spanish people respectively. A study of their path towards heroedom sheds light on issues of intellectual imperialism, internal and external marketing and how we, humans beings, choose literary symbols to represent us. Whereas the British people have managed to capture the imagination of other cultures and market their myths successfully, Spain has lagged behind. The purpose of this study is to determine why Arthur has triumphed as a national symbol and has been marketed much more successfully than Don Quijote.